Technology has been molded into our everyday lives and become apart of our daily rituals. We typically depend on technology to socialize with one another and interact. The Internet feeds to our addiction of technology with various sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube and keeps us busy with these virtual interactions. Although technology may not be face-to-face, it allows one to connect with others across the globe and can spread information easilyThese social networking sites push for others to share news and music with their friends. Therefore, this makes information spread easily amongst others.
The easy access and global connection that is associated with the Internet makes it an ideal place for one to promote themselves and their talents. YouTube is filled with various videos of people showcasing their talents worldwide. Although some may post their talents to share with their friends and family, others post in hopes to be famous. Fortunately, technology is so powerful and can bring so many people together that this has worked for many. Artists such as Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Timeflies first started out on the Internet and posting videos to YouTube. YouTube worked as a site of exchange for these artists and they enjoyed watching fans watch and comment on their videos. Although they just did this for enjoyment at first, as they all stated in interviews, they all found out that they had much more potential. YouTube allowed them all to find someone to sign a contract with and therefore, make money while showing off their talents. Although those were not their initial intentions, the power of technology brought all these artists different paths in life. As stated before, those extra shares via social networking sites help the hidden talents noticed and successful in the music industry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL7sBxQvgkE
Timeflies originally began as Timeflies Tuesday, only posting songs on Tuesday. This allowed all of Timeflies’ fans to gather on YouTube in anticipation of the next release of a video. Although they did not make money off of these songs, they enjoyed watching the fans sings a lot and tweet to them how much they enjoyed it. Cal and Rez, the creators of Timeflies, originally used music as a site of exchange to see the love given by their fans. The video above displays one of the first videos posted by Timeflies. The little thought into the video as to where the video was taken place and the freestyling seen in the song proves how Timeflies posted videos for enjoyment rather than money. These videos have now gotten over 2 million views and proves how fast technology works. This video was only posted November 2011 and now, Timeflies has a signed contract and has gone from videos in a basement and YouTube to the radio and sold out concerts. Without the power of technology, Timeflies’ success would not have been able to be completed. Timeflies may have posted the video but fans spread the video amongst others via the internet.
American Studies Media Culture Program (ASMCP) 